Rail plow for dismantling railway tracks



Aug. 25, 1959 J. W. BOYLE RAIL PLOW F 'OR DISMANTLING RAILWAY TRACKSFiled Oct. 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 //v new row.- JOHN W BQYLEI hisAttorney.

5, 1959 J. w. BOYLE 2,901,217

RAIL PLOW FOR DISMANTLING RAILWAY TRACKS Filed Oct. 18, 1955 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORY v JOHN WBOYLE,

his Af/amey.

United States Patent RAIL PLow FOR DISMANTLING RAILWAY TRACKS John W.Boyle, McClellandtown, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation,a corporation of New Jersey Application October 18, 1955, Serial No.541,161

8 Claims. (Cl. 254-104) This invention relates to an apparatus fordismantling railway tracks and, more particularly, is directed tosimplified mechanism in the form of a plow which can be pulled by atractor or other traction vehicle to dismantle the spiked connections ofrailway rails to their supporting ties.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a rail dismantlingapparatus for the recovery of railway rails which are secured by spikesto wood ties embedded in the ballast of a railway roadbed. In a mannerto be described, the dismantling apparatus includes a draft or cross barfor operating a pair of laterally spaced plows to simultaneouslydismantle the spiked connections of a pair of rails with a singlesupporting cross-tie. The draft bar is provided with a hitch forconnection to a tractor or other traction vehicle and by which it may bepulled forwardly along the rails to be removed with its laterally spacedplows sliding along the under surfaces of the rail flanges. The plowshave a vertical wedge shape such that their forward movement by thedraft bar forces them between the rails and the cross-tie with a wedgingaction which is effective to elevate the rails relative to the crosstieand to thus pull the fastening spikes at least partially out offastening engagement in the cross-tie.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rail dismantling plow ofthe character referred to with a horizontal wedge shape which operatesto spread the fastening spikes laterally out of engagement with the railflanges after its vertical wedge shape has operated to elevate the railrelative to the cross-tie.

A further object of the invention is to provide a draftbar support fordismantling plows of the character referred to above which follows theplows through the space between the rails and the cross-tie and in sodoing effects final removal of the fastening spikes from the cross-tie.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description.

In the drawings there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.In this showing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the rail dismantling plow of thisinvention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the position of theplow of Figure 1 relative to a pair of railway track rails and asupporting cross-tie during operation to dismantle the spikedconnections of the rails to the cross-tie;

Figure 3 is an end elevational view looking from the left of Figure 2;and

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line IV-IV ofFigure 3 after movement of the plow draft bar to a position adjacent therail spikes.

In Figure 2 of the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a wood cross-tiewhich is embedded in the ballast (not shown) of a railway road bed.Parallel rails 2 are secured to the tie 1 by spikes 3 on opposite sidesof each rail. The spikes 3 have heads 4 which engage and clamp the railsupporting flanges 5 against the cross-tie.

.2 ,90 1,2 l 7 Patented Aug. 25, 1959 ICC The dismantling device of thisinvention includes a draft or cross bar 8 which in operation is placedbelow the rails 2 in a position extending transversely thereof. The endsof the draft bar 8 extend beyond the outer edges of the rails 2 and haveguide blocks 9 welded thereto for sliding engagement with the outeredges of the rail flanges 5 to guide its movement with respect thereto.A pair of U-shaped straps 10 are welded to the draft bar 8 at pointsinwardly of the rails 2 and furnish connections for attachment to atractor hitch designated as a whole by the numeral 11 in a manner to bedescribed. The outer leg 12 of each of the U-shaped straps 10 is adaptedto have sliding engagement along the inner edge of one of the railflanges 5 and thus cooperates with the guide blocks 9 in guiding themovement of the draft bar 8 along the bottom of the rail flanges 5.

A pair of rail dismantling plows or wedges 13 are rigidly secured as bywelding to the draft bar 8 at laterally spaced points. The plows 13extend forwardly in the direction of movement of the draft bar 8 by thedraft hitch 11 and are respectively arranged centrally of the railflange engaging guides 9 and 12 so that their movement is guided alongthe under surface of the rail flanges 5. Each of the plows 13 has a flatupper surface 14 which is flush with the upper surface 15 of the draftbar 8 so that it will have sliding engagement with the bottom of a railflange 5. The plows 13 have somewhat the configuration of an invertedflat-iron which provides wedging points 16 attheir forward ends. Thelateral edges 17 of the flat plow surfaces 14 are curved and divergerearwardly from the point 16 to provide a horizontal wedge for a purposeto be described. The lateral spacing of the trailing ends of the edges17 along the edge 18 of the draft bar 10 is greater than the width ofthe rail flanges 5 for a purpose to be described. The body of each plowhas a curvature tapering downwardly from its point 16 to provide avertical wedging surface 19, as best shown in Figure 3, for a purpose tobe described.

The tractor hitch 11 comprises a single strand of cable 20 which has itsends threaded through thimbles 21 and its center portion threadedthrough a thimble 22. The thimbles 21 and 22 provide eyelets in which aclevis 23 is received, the clevis 23 being adapted for connection with adraw hook (not shown) operated by a tractor or other traction vehicle.The intermediate portions of the cable 20 between its ends and centerportion are threaded through thimbles 24 forming eyelets in which theloops of the U-shaped straps 10 are received. Shackles 25 are providedfor clamping the cable 20 against movement through the thimbles 21, 22and 24.

In operation, the draft bar 8 is placed under a pair of rails as shownin Figure 2 and the clevis 23 of the hitch 11 is connected to the drawhook of a winch, tractor, or other power operated mechanism for drawingthe draft bar 8 fOrwardly in the direction of the arrow toward thecross-tie 1 as shown in Figure 2. This movement forces the points of theplows 16 between the rail flanges 5 and the cross-tie 1 and continuedforward movement to the position shown in Figure 3 is effective throughthe vertical wedging surfaces 19 to elevate the rails 2 with respect tothe cross-tie 1. Elevation of the rails 2 in this manner operates topartially withdraw the spikes 3 from the cross-tie 1. Recalling that thetrailing ends of the plow edges 17 along the line 18 have a widthgreater than the width of the flanges 5, it will be apparent that theedges 17 provide a horizontal wedging action which will spread thespikes 3 apart to the position shown in Figure 4 with their clampingheads 4 out of engagement with the rail flanges 5 as the cross bar 8 ismoved to a position with its edge 18 adjacent the spikes 3. Lateralspreading movement of the spikes 3 in this manner is effective to movethe spike heads 4 laterally out of holding engagement with the railflanges 5. As the draw bar 8 is pulled through the space 26 between therail 2 and cross-tie 1, its forward edge 18 will engage with andcomplete the removal of the spikes 3 from the cross-tie 1,

While one embodiment of my invention has been shown and described itwill be apparent that other adaptations and modifications may be madewithout departing from the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A railway track dismantling apparatus comprising a draft bar adaptedto be arranged below and extending tranversely of a pair of track railsfor movement lengthwise thereof, a pair of plows secured to said draftbar in laterally spaced positions and projecting therefrom in thedirection of its movement, each of said plows being slidable along thebottom of one of said rails and having wedge means comprising a wedgingpoint at its forward end for entry between such rail and a cross-tie onwhich it is supported, and wedging edges that diverge rearwardly fromsaid point and are spaced at their trailing ends a distance greater thanthe width of the rail bottom along which it has sliding movement forreleasing the holding connections provided by spikes fastening oppositeedges of the rail to its supporting cross-tie.

2. A railway track dismantling apparatus as defined in claim 1characterized by a pair of guide elements attached to said draft bar forsliding engagement with the sides of the track rails to guide themovement of said draft bar lengthwise thereof.

3. A railway track dismantling apparatus as defined in claim 1characterized by said Wedge means further comprising a vertical wedgingsurface tapering downwardly and rearwardly from said point for elevatingthe rails relative to their supporting cross-tie.

4. An apparatus for dismantling the connections provided by railwayspikes holding opposite edges of each of the base flanges of a pair ofrailway track rails clamped against a supporting cross-tie comprising adraft bar positioned below and extending transversely of said railflanges for movement in a direction lengthwise of said rails, and a pairof plows secured in laterally spaced relation to said draft bar andprojecting therefrom in the direction of its movement, each of saidplows having a wedging point at its forward end and a flat upper surfaceextending rearwardly from said point for sliding engagement with thebottom of one of said rail flanges, said flat upper surface having edgeswhich diverge rearwardly from said point and which are spaced at theirtrailing ends a distance greater than the width of said rail flanges,each of said plows further having a vertical wedging surface taperingdownwardly and reaiwardly from said wedging point, and draft connectionsfor moving said draft bar lengthwise of said rails to enter said wedgingpoints between said rail flanges and cross-tie and to render saidvertical wedging surfaces effective to elevate said rails relative tosaid cross-tie for partially withdrawing said spikes therefrom and torender said upper plow surface edges effective to spread said spikeslaterally out of holding engagement with opposite edges of said railflanges, said draft bar having portions projecting laterally from saidplows for effecting final removal of said spikes tween sa-id rail andcross-tie and a vertical wedging sur-- face tapering downwardly andrearwardly from said point for elevating said rail with respect to saidcross-tie, and wedging edges that diverge rearwardly from said point andare spaced at their trailing ends a distance greater than the width ofsaid rail for dismantling said spiked connection in response to itsmovement through the space between said rail and cross-tie.

6. An apparatus for dismantling the connection provided by railwayspikes holding opposite edges of a railway trac'k rail flange clampedagainst a supporting cross tie comprising a plow having a flat uppersurface for sliding engagement with the under surface of said flange andfor movement in a direction along its length toward said connection,said plow having a wedging point at the forward end of said uppersurface for entry between said flange and cross-tie and a verticalwedging surface tapering downwardly and rearwardly from said point forelevating said rail relative to said cross-tie, said upper surfacehaving lateral edges which diverge rearwardly relative to each other andhave a spacing at their trailing ends greater than the width of saidflange whereby they are effective to wedge said spikes laterally out ofholding engagement with said flange edges upon movement of said plowalong said rail to a position beyond said connection.

7. An apparatus for dismantling the spiked connection of a railway trackrail to a supportingcross-tie comprising a plow movable along the bottomof said rail toward said connection, said plow having a wedging point atits forward end for entry between said rail and cross-tie, a wedgingsurface tapering downwardly and rearwardly from said point for elevatingsaid rail relative to said cross-tie, and wedging edges that divergerearwardly from said point and are spaced at their trailing ends adistance greater than the width of said rail for disengaging said spikedconnection.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 7 characterized by said .plow havinga planar upper surface for sliding engagement with the bottom of saidrail, and said wedging point being arranged at the forward end of saidplanar surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS966,613 Sparks Aug. 9, 1910 1,359,777 Wright Nov. 23, 1920 1,430,916Mason et al Oct. 3, 1922 2,312,937 Stiefel Mar. 2, 1943 2,705,982 PontsApr. 12, 1955

